Press Start
by brigadeleader
Summary: This first person story stars Arcanine who is paired with Matt, the son of his former trainer, Ginger, who is less than capable of training any Pokemon. Arcanine has to deal with Matt's incapabilities and rude behavior, as well as not disappointing Ginger.
1. A Brief Introduction

We didn't save the world. We didn't beat the Elite Four. We didn't travel to distant lands. She didn't become the top coordinator. She didn't become a renowned breeder. But, what we did accomplish was friendship. That deep compassion that only graces two living beings when they truly know each other. We loved one another and that was the only thing that mattered- the only thing that still matters.

I am old, but she looks older somehow. Only 58, but her eyes look so road weary. We did travel a lot of roads- maybe that's why. Or, maybe she won't live as long me. That's probably it. It would be sadder the other way around, if I was going to die first. Having the pokemon die before the trainer is like a child dieing before a parent. No one should have to bury their child, likewise no one should have to bury their pokemon. Of course, it isn't easier on me to see her dieing, either.

When we first met neither of us knew what to do. I remember basking in the sun surrounded by some lush green grass when a girl appeared out of the blue. I also remember her screaming and hitting me.

"It's a Vulpix!"

I barked at her, but that didn't stop the rapid slapping. Those childish blows kept me on the ground- she was practically laying on me. The next thing I know she is jumping up and pulling out a little red and white ball. A pokeball. I had never been in a capture situation before and didn't know how to react or what to do. I tried to run, but the ball tractor-beamed me in before I could get an inch away.

Nothing is more scary than your first pokeball experience. It isn't that the ball is cramped like you think, but the thing is dark. Very, very dark. Imagine the sun turning off one sunny afternoon at the bach and leaving you in pitch black nothing. That is a pokeball. So, like anyone else would have done: I panicked and pushed and banged and eventually broke out of that black hole of hell . . . only to have another one thrown at my face. Again, I broke out.

"Hey! Stay in there! I want a pokemon," the girl whined. She looked like she was about to cry, but I didn't care. Who wants to be trapped in eternal darkness? Not me. So, when that next ball came at me, I broke out again. And again. And- then I couldn't. Another ball was thrown and I tried to escape, but I couldn't do it. It seemed to be stronger than the last one. I panicked and howled and barked. Nothing worked. I was trapped.

"Uh, so you are my pokemon now," she said. I could hear her from inside the ball, "Um, so what do I do with a Vulpix?"

_I am not a Vulpix._

She took me home and showed me to her mother. I overheard that the pokeballs were taken from her dad's dresser. While she did get yelled at, her mom was so proud she caught me. I remember thinking, _What a nice family, can I go now?_

When her dad got home I was released and I almost ran out the door, but something stopped me. I don't know if it was that pokeball's power or what, but I stayed in the home and was shown off to the man of the house. I am glad I stayed, he knew what I was.

"Oh, it's a Growlith," he said while patting my head. It felt nice to be tapped like that.

"Oooooohhhhhh. What do I do with it?" The little girl pointed at me.

"Love it, train it, and never let it feel lonely."

"I can do that,"she hugged me, "My name is Ginger. I will love you."

Ginger gave me to her son as a going away present. He was going to start his own journey; I suppose she thinks I don't need to retire with her just yet.

"I don't want your stupid Arcanine." He is a kind boy.

I could feel her heart crack a little. Ginger knew her son was just being stubborn, but it still hurt her all the same, "Honey, please. He is strong and will be very useful on your journey."

"Ugh, but I already have my own pokemon. Why do I need him?"

"I want you to always be safe, dear. I know that Arcanine will protect you just like he did me."

The conversation was longer, but it ended up with me going with the kid. I am to travel the world with a 17-year-old boy who didn't want me. Want to know how thrilled I am? Not at all, but I did it for Ginger. She wanted me to go. For her son, for me, and partly for herself.

"I don't like fire-types," the kid said. Oh, I didn't mention his name. Matt. My new captor was Matt the Blunt Teenager. "But, Mom wants me to take you. I hope you don't totally blow or something."

_I feel the same about you, kid._


	2. Stomped

You can never be too sure how long you have been in a pokeball. Time doesn't seem to pass in the same way it does outside of the ball. A mere hour outside can feel like a decade inside. Some pokemon can sleep and rest through this time lapse, but I can't. I stay awake and wait to be released into the world again. When Ginger and I were on the road, she rarely ever put me in the ball. She seemed to understand why I didn't like it. Her son was not the same. Guess how long I have been sitting in this pokeball. Go on, guess. Well, I don't know either, but I am sure it had been a very long time.

Time may be unstable in pokeballs, but movement is not. This whole pokeball belt attachment was a great idea for the trainers- not so much for the pokemon. Every step taken, every stumble, every sit, even every change of pace is felt inside that little red and white ball. It's not that a pokemon is thrown against the sides of the ball, but it can feel the hardness and vibrations of movements. So, it's never a very comfortable ride.

Matt released me on a dusty road in front of a pidgey. I looked around and immediately recognized where we were: Cerulean City. Or at least a mile, out. I could still see Mt. Moon to the West of us. I immediately became very, very angry. How could that kid keep me in that ball all the way from Viridian to here? I was stuck in that pokeball for at least two weeks, and now he wants me to battle some poor pidgey owned by some kid who is probably as neglectful as himself.

I stretched and layed down in the dirt. There was no way I was going to fight after all this, and especially not some little pidgey.

"Get up Arcanine! Use ember!" Matt yelled, I could hear how desperate he was. I guess his other pokemon were beaten by this little bird. I laughed.

The other trainer continued my laugh, "Why don't you just give up? That Arcanine is probably just a weak as that Squirtle and that Scyther."

That little jab was irritating, but I wasn't going to fight because some kid called me weak. That would be petty and I'm not petty.

"Come on Arcanine! Use ember, please."

Now the kid was pleading? What happened to that dickish demeanor? That rude attitude that kept me locked inside a pokeball for weeks seemed to be gone like the pokemon he fought against that pidgey- that was mean, but a good analogy. I have never met the other two pokemon Matt brought with him, I would like that. Maybe we could talk and lay in the grass together.

"Come on and fight you oversized Growlith." Great. Now the Pidgey was talking trash. Granted the trash he was talking was very stupid and obvious.

"I don't want to fight, right now, thank you."

"Hah! Weakling! Weakling! Weakling!" The Pidgey kept chanting over and over. Annoying doesn't quite cover it. I was getting fed up the bird's squaking, and stood up.

"Arcanine? Are you going to fight?" Matt clapped his hands together and shouted, "Use ember!"

I stomped on the Pidgey. Fun fact, I forgot ember a long time ago. Matt should have told me to use Fire Blast. I know that one.

Matt was angry, I could tell from his red face. He didn't put me back in the pokeball after my Pidgey stepping, maybe he got the hint. We headed straight for the Pokemon Center to heal the other two pokemon Matt had with him. I felt bad for them. They didn't have enough training, it wasn't their fault.

While Squirtle and Scyther were healing, Matt called Ginger on the video phone.

"Hey, your Arcanine doesn't listen. I told him to use ember and he just stomped on a Pidgey," he whined to his poor mother. The kid was 18 now, why was he whining?

I heard Ginger laughing, "He doesn't know ember anymore. Don't you remember; I gave you a copy of his move list."

"I lost it."

"Okay, well get some paper, dear. There- okay, he knows Fire Blast, Flamethrower, ExtremeSpeed, and Dragon Pulse."

"How does he know Dragon Pulse?"

"Because, honey, he is the best there is."

I laughed and bumped into view. Ginger looked nice, I growled a hello. She returned it and we shared a knowing glance.

"Matt? Don't put Arcanine in the pokeball unless you have to, he really hates it. That should make your friendship spawn easier."

Matt grimaced, he didn't want our friendship to spawn anymore than I did, but he nodded and said goodbye to Ginger. We stayed at the Pokemon Center that night, or at least Matt and his pokemon did. I slept outside, it was nicer and more my style. A girl walked up to me and patted my head. She looked so familiar, but I couldn't place the name. Where had I seen this woman before? She smiled and started on her way again toward a group of homes.

"I'll see you later."

I don't know who she was, but she was very pretty. I should have been paying better attention to what direction she had come from. Oh well, it's time for bed. I'll worry about the creepy hot chick later.


	3. The Great Daycare Adventure!

Matt left Squirtle, Scyther, and me at the daycare. He said he had some business to take care of- I don't believe him. This whole thing is very suspicious. Who would leave all their pokemon behind? Well, apparently Matt because here the three of us sit in an old man's backyard waiting for our trainer's return.

It is so quiet I can hear the grass grow; all three of us have taken to opposite sides of the pen. The two of them look tired still, I doubt they have healed completely. I felt bad for them. Matt just threw each one into battle without thinking about their strengths and weaknesses- I doubt he even knows that Scyther is lucky to be walking today after fighting that Pidgey. Matt is stupid for not knowing his type match-ups. With a little more training Squirtle could have taken the Pidgey out and so could Scyther, but these two looked so young and inexperienced.

I never thought I would say that- young and inexperienced. I sound like a dickish old man. I mean, I am old- but geeze. Regardless of my new elderly standing I had to break the silence; it was too much for me.

"Hey, so how are you guys feeling?"

"What do you care?" Squirtle growled at me. What do I care? Looks like the trainer's personality rubbed off on the pokemon.

"You did take quite the beating yesterday, I'm just worried about my teammates."

"Teammates? We aren't teammates. Teammates know each other. They get along. They fight together. We have none of that."

"I only asked how you were holding up, and I get this stupid mock philosophical speech from a kid who can barely stand after getting beaten by a small bird." Dickish old man be damned. I don't care how I sound anymore. I already have to deal with Matt's sour attitude, I don't need some water turtle giving me the same crap.

"Hey, give us a break. We tried, you know?" Scyther cut in. What a bad pun. Anyway, to be honest, I didn't know because I never saw them try. For all I actually knew they lay down on the ground like I did. Squirtle turned away into his corner.

"Does Matt not train you?"

"Not really. Just in battles, you know? Nothing like some of the other trainers."

So, Matt thought battling was the only way to train his pokemon. It was a sad realization for me. These guys won't get any stronger by being thrown into battle day after day. They need field work. A helping hand to guide them. Some sort of mentor. That is what a trainer must be- a mentor to their pokemon.

"Well, since Matt won't train you, I will!" I roared. We trained all day and became closer as a team and . . . Yeah, I didn't say that at all. Sorry, kids, I am just not that kind of Arcanine. If you want to believe I helped these two, then do it. Do it with all your heart, but you'll be lying to yourself. I am not a teacher, nor should I be. It isn't my place- it is Matt's, and I suppose my job is to make him realize that. Or not. I can just tell on him again when he calls Ginger. Hu-rah.

When a child is left at a daycare they cry and cry until their parent leaves. When the parent returns the child will drop whatever they are doing and run to hug the parent. In most cases this is very true because the child loves their parent. If they don't show this action it usually means the parent doesn't show the child enough love. I say usually because there are some kids who just plain love daycare and never want to leave, even if there is a new pokemon waiting for them at home. Anyway, the latter was very visible when Matt came to pick us up. Neither Squirtle, Scyther, or myself ran to greet our trainer. We came when called- and that was more of a lope than a run.

"Son, your pokemon don't seem to eager to see you," the daycare man said. He gave each one of us a parting pokeblock. Mine was gross. This guy couldn't cook.

"So?" Matt seemed irritated. No, he was.

"A pokemon should always be eager to see his trainer. For the trainer is a pokemon's life."

"And how would I make them eager to see me, old man?"

I have to pause right here to comment- Matt just called this nice daycare man, "old man." How rude is that? What is happening to people? Whatsmore, that daycare man just took it. He stood there and ignored it. I don't know who has bigger balls right now.

"Talk with them. Train with them one on one- no other person. And most of all, love them."

"Hunh- whatever. I talk to them plenty."

That old man just hit my point on the nose- maybe he is one of those psychics. He does own a Drowzee . . . Anyway, we left the daycare and walked back into Cerulean City. Matt lead me to the local gym. A water gym. Needless to say, I didn't want to walk into this gym. It being full of water and all. I barked my displeasure.

"Oh come on, Arcanine! It's just a bit of water. You can handle this low-level gym no problem."

Wait- he intends to use me? I thought I was just walking in with him and Scyther would be his choice. I really don't think Matt fully knows his type match-ups. I could be the most powerful fire pokemon in the world, but even a little bit of water is very harmful. If I never got hit and used ExtremeSpeed and Dragon Pulse the whole time- I would be fine. However, everyone gets hit once and it only takes one drop of water to severely damage me. I have a low tolerance, but you know who doesn't? Charizard- it's weird. You would think that flaming tail would be the end of him in a water fight, but that isn't true at all. However, a bit of lightning will bring him right down. Fun fact of the day.

So, despite my barking and attempts to walk off, I was drug into the gym. I followed my murdering trainer through the hallways and he followed signs into a large pool room. I saw a familiar face swimming with a Dewgong.

"Hey! I am here to challenge you!" Matt screamed. He didn't need to scream, she was only a few feet in, but he did. It echoed.

The girl got out of the pool and greeted us, "It's nice to see you again." Yup, it was the girl from outside the Pokemon Center. Didn't see that one coming, did you, kids? Didn't think so.

"What do you mean?" Matt growled. He was in battle mode now.

"So, you came to challenge me? Okay! I'm Misty, the leader of this water-type gym. We do a three pokemon battle here, so get prepared because I won't go down easy!" Misty took out a remote and pressed a button. Four platforms rose to the top of the pool. We took our places, she took hers.

Part of me kept waiting for Matt to realize that I shouldn't be fighting this. That he would pull me out, hell, even put me in a pokeball and call out Scyther. He never did that. So, there I stood surrounded by a gigantic pool of water facing a very determined young lady wielding an equally determined Staru.


	4. I Feel Faint

I don't know how many of you have ever fainted before, but for those of you who haven't let me explain this phenomenon to you: things go dark. Not in a comfortable way like falling asleep or being put under, but dark in a black-out because you ran into a wall way. Fainting is not only painful and surprising, but as a Pokemon you can feel it coming on. Your body stiffens, vision blurs, and every movement (magic or not) feels like being stabbed. Then the blackness starts in. I imagine this is what death may feel like, and just that thought, the thought that I may never wake up again, is frightening. Luckily for me, I have only fainted a few times in my life, but after a few hits from the Staryu I know that I will be adding another notch to the chalkboard.

Water gun hurts. Then the Tackle right after? Well played Misty. This is her first pokemon and I am having my ass handed to me. The Staryu is so fast I barely have enough time to dodge and counter with- anything. I can't counter. Well, I can but that damn Matt keeps shouting, "Use Flamethrower!" I will not use Flamethrower. That would be stupid, and I am not stupid . . . but I do have to obey my trainer. Those are the rules. Fire billows from my stomach and engulfs the tiny star. All I did was burn it across the left arm – I feel so weak.

The logic of type-match-ups leave my mind and I all I can think of is my inability to damage such a low level pokemon. Matt seemed to catch his mistake in commanding me to use Flamethrower, but instead of returning me he shouts, "Arcanine, use Dragon Pulse!" I have only a 30 second window to use the attack after Staryu blasts me with another Water Gun- I hit and Staryu flies backward. Perfect. An opening for me to faint it and win this round. I leap to the Staryu's platform and only have to wait a few seconds for Matt to shout "Use ExtremeSpeed!" I'm right above the Staryu when it recovers and Water Guns me into the pool. Matt should have planned ahead. He should have planned for the knock-back. He should have lined up moves for me, but he didn't. I hate water.

I wake up in a jumbling, vibrating eternal darkness. Matt probably healed me at the Pokemon Center, but my injuries must have been superficial since I am back in the ball. I wonder how Scyther and Squirtle did. We could have won – of course I don't know the extent of the other two's training, so maybe they were too weak to take on Misty's other pokemon.

Matt bounces me around for a long time, so I can only assume we are on to the next town. I have no idea why he won't listen to Ginger and let me walk. I hate this invention.

After a few more moments of bouncing, I am released. I look around and see a river to my left and a large patch of tall grass to my right. Next to me are both Scyther and Squirtle standing in awe at their surroundings. I squint my eyes and see the opening to the Rock Tunnel.

"Why are you sittin' there all smug?" Matt glared at me, "We lost because of you."

Last time I checked fire-types were not only weak to water attacks, but many of us can die in the rain. I didn't push myself out into the arena. I didn't tell me to use Flamethrower. Sometimes I wish I could speak human like those legendary pokemon in tales.

"Scyther and Squirtle are not strong enough to take Misty on their own. I was relying on you to knock-out at least two of her pokemon."

Matt is being an ass. I shouldn't be the one getting yelled at. I began to growl at him, to show him how I feel about this unneeded reprimanding. He takes it a little differently.

"You faint because of your weakness, and now you growl at me! This isn't my fault! You want to tell me something? To beat me up? You're a rouge pokemon! Squirtle, Scyther! Grab him!"

The site turns into chaos as his two pokemon try to push me onto the ground. They try to crawl up me, run into me, and even pull me. I'm just too big and heavy for Scyther and Squirtle to manage.

After a few minutes Matt becomes frustrated, returns his two pokemon, and storms up the path to Cerulean City. I start to follow, but I see my scratched, old pokeball on the ground, and the reality of the situation kicks in. I was abandoned. Matt wanted to get by easy and failed. Matt didn't want to train his pokemon, and he didn't want to get to know me. I hate Matt, but I never thought I would be abandoned by him. We haven't even been together all that long – I have only fought two battles for him, but I didn't listen in the first and the in the second I fainted. That must have been too much for him to handle as a new trainer, but that shouldn't warrant abandoning me, right?

I stare at the pokeball for a while before picking it up and heading back towards town.

Of course, by the time I made it back to town, I realized that I had no idea where to go or what to do. Maybe I was too hard headed about losing to Misty; after all, Matt is a young trainer. But, I can't just follow someone who shows no urge to learn or gain experience. It would disappoint Ginger if I came home without Matt, and it would kill her inside to hear that he abandoned me. I should be the bigger man and just suck it up, but I can't let myself do that. It would be showing a weakness that he would no doubt take advantage of.

I think about the situation more as I make my way back to Cerulean, and eventually I decide to watch Matt battle Misty again tomorrow. If I can't get over my own pride and he can't get over his personality defect, then maybe watching the battle will give us some common ground.

Or not. I could be entirely wrong. I could watch and Matt could battle, and nothing would be gained but wasted time on both our accounts. I try not to think of that option as I fall asleep in front on the Gym.


	5. Abandonment Issues

I knew walking right into the gym would be a terrible idea, so I walked around to back window and looked into the pool arena. Misty was there swimming laps with her Seaking, the newest addition to her team, Staryu and Starmie. Staryu was racing ahead of Seaking, jumping into the air and spurting out fountains of water, and Seaking tried to follow Staryu, but never made it as high into the air and never spurt out as much water. It's always fun to watch the younger kid chase and try to imitate the older one. Of course, when you realize that you enjoy watching pokemon younger than you that you realize how old you are.

I try to not realize how entertained I am when Matt saunters into the gym calling for Misty. I can't hear his exact words, but I can hear that there is at least a conversation between them. He points at the pool and Misty hops out, returning her pokemon to their balls. She walks over to the wall, lifts a plate, and presses some buttons that make platforms appear in the pool.

Matt's first pokemon is Scyther. I am surprised to see that he isn't using Squirtle, and at the same time I am terribly relieved. I don't think his pokemon could withstand another loss.

Misty chooses Staryu and attacks first with Rapid Spin. Scyther dodges uses Agility. The Staryu flings another Rapid Spin into the water, confusing the amped-up Scyther. It bounced back and forth in the pool and burst out of the water into Scyther's back with a Tackle. Scyther smacked his face on the platform. Matt yelled something at Scyther, and he pulled himself up with his wings after a few seconds. The Staryu hit with a Rapid Spin that knocked Scyther on his back. Scyther lay on his back and slowly began to glow, I figured he was using Focus Energy but I was unsure how helpful it would be at this point. Already Scyther's use of Agility turned out to be in vain, and he was beaten up from the Staryu's attacks, but he didn't stop focusing.

The Staryu and Misty watched and waited for Scyther to stand. It was one minute before Scyther got to his feet. He used another Agility and leapt at Staryu using False Swipe, then doubling back with a Quick Attack. Stayu was caught off-guard and tossed into the water. It recovered and spun at Scyther who swiped his scythe and brushed Staryu into the water again. It jumped back out of the water, hit Scyther in the arm with a Tackle. Scyther countered with False Swipe. The Staryu hit the platform with a hard SMACK!

Misty glared at the ground and returned Staryu's body to a pokeball. She released her new pokemon, Seaking, who flopped into the pool. I am surprised that Matt hasn't lost yet, not only because he is an incompetent trainer, but because Scyther doesn't know any grass-type attacks. The full use of Scyther's abilities is his rejection of water attacks, which Misty had tried to exploit with Rapid Spin and Tackle. I think that Scyther has gotten stronger, and that Matt has gotten far more tactical.

Scyther beat Seaking in two minutes, and Starmie in five. It was amazing to see him move so quickly with so little instruction from Matt. They must have planned out their moves ahead of time. It was a complete transformation.

I walked away from the Gym and I couldn't help but to feel disappointed. However kind an Arcanine I believe I am, a good part of me wanted Matt to lose again. I don't know how he did it, but he won and that really made me sad. Obviously, I feel like shit for being disappointed about Matt's victory. Just feelings adding on feelings. I am an emotional man.

After some time of being frustrated with myself for being disappointed about the battle I walk through the town's bazaar. Well, it wasn't really a bazaar, but there were some vendors selling piles of dead Magikarp, hunks and jerks of Tauros, and berries. I stole a Ponyta steak from a very nice looking woman and ate it out past Nugget Bridge, which is a terrible name for the bridge considering no one gives out nuggets of gold there anymore. I suppose it is nostalgic, but I can't help but find it stupid as I gnaw at my meat-slab.

I fell asleep after finishing and dreamt of, I don't remember. But, when I woke up I found Matt sitting next to me. He didn't say anything to me, and I didn't say anything to him. We both stared at the water for a while. I noticed he had my old, dirty pokeball in his hands; I had left that at the Gym last night.

"Well, we better get going to Saffron City," Matt said. He stood up and began heading back to town.

I followed.

* * *

><p>Matt and I walked past the Daycare where he had left the group of us a few days back and made our way to the underground tunnel that leads to Saffron. However, instead of being able to leisurely wander into the walkway and arrive in Saffron two people stood in our way blocking the entrance. They didn't seem to see us until Matt asked them to, "Move the fuck out of the way."<p>

"Sorry, sir! Our job to is to keep this place here locked up tight! No one in, no one out!" One of the two guys said. They were both dressed in black and white uniforms with a giant red "R" on their chests.

Matt cursed at them some more before finally giving up, "We'll just use the Rock Tunnel, then."

He made a good choice. There is no point in dealing with those people. From what I heard, Team Rocket was a terrible organization that tortured and killed pokemon at their pleasure while exploiting businesses across the globe. I am not ready to die just yet, and I eagerly pad behind Matt on our way to the darkest Tunnel in Kanto.

**Author's Note: I will start writing more per chapter from now on, I promise. I just have been pretty busy lately, but when school starts I will have a lot of time to write considering I will have a lot of time in and between class. **


	6. I Swear He Wants to Kill Me

It was a silent walk to Rock Tunnel, which was expected considering how this is the area where I was dumped. I tried not to think too much about it. That proved to be very difficult and instead of voicing how I felt, I just stared at the ground and tread behind Matt.

Before going into the tunnel, we stopped at the Pokemon Center right outside the entrance. It looked out of place, like a trainer riding a Tauros in the sea. However happy and inviting the Center looked on the outside, it was dingy, torn, and dull on the inside. I suspect that this one doesn't get funded as much as the others, so all the money go toward the medicines and machines. At least they have their priorities in line.

When Matt and I walked in, the second thing I noticed (besides the terrible condition of the place) was a man waving our way. He was an old man with a shiny, bald head.

"Hey! Hey, you! You there! Come over here," the guy shouted at us. I don't believe he needed to shout since the Pokemon Center was small.

In perfect Matt-style, he ignored the guy and proceeded to the front desk where Nurse Joy Twin #87 took Squirtle and Scyther to run them through the healing machine. I don't know how that thing works, but I do know that it stings all over when you go through. Imagine being given a thousand shots all over your body . . . I think that is a good example. Anyway, the guy ran up to us and tapped Matt on the shoulder.

"Do you have the HM 05: Flash?" Shiny-bald actually said "zero-five."

"What," Matt replied dryly.

"The HM 05: Flash! Do you have it?"

"Uh, no."

"Do any of your pokemon know Flash?" The guy tapped Matt more. I was getting a kick out of this.

"No. Stop touching me, dude." Matt slapped the old man's hand away and backed up. He grabbed his pokeballs and stormed out the door.

"But you won't be able to make it through Rock Tunnel without your pokemon knowing Flash!" Shiny-bald called out after Matt. I felt bad for the old guy. He was just trying to help us out, and if Matt had just listened I wouldn't be stuck breathing out Flamethrower for the entire cave adventure.

The up-side to me breathing out fire every ten seconds was that no one wanted to battle us because I looked like an unwieldy, dangerous pokemon, the down-side was that as soon as I ran out of energy to use Flamethrower, Matt shoved a bottle of Ether down my throat. I had no idea where he got so many of these things, but he had dozens.

My stomach began to turn after a couple of the Ethers, eventually I began gagging, and then later I threw up. I had never had so many of these things before in my life, but I knew it was dangerous to be ingesting so much. When we got out of the cave I felt like I was going to die. My throat was burnt from my flame attacks at the dark, and my body was simply moving forward. I was dizzy, nauseous, and in pain. It was more than clear to me that I had drunk too many Ethers, to Matt I looked weak.

"What is your problem, Arcanine?! Hurry up! We have work to do." Matt charged off and left me behind. Thanks by the way, it's not like I led your ass through a pitch black cave for two hours while being fed drugs. Whatever. I had no choice but to follow him and hope we would stop by the Pokemon Center to heal me with the stinging machine.

Let me describe Lavender Town. It is the most depressing, sad, and melancholic town in the entire universe, and I will stand by that until I die. There is a giant tower named Pokemon Tower that houses all the dead pokemon it can stand to fit, and just beyond the town is Silence Bridge.

Pokemon Tower looks like the dead are rotting the tower itself. The paint is faded and peeling and the windows are, well, dingy. You can't clean dirt like that. I wonder if they have refinished the inside, but I doubt it. This town severely lacks the funding to do much of anything.

There isn't anything too creepy about Silence Bridge but the name. It sounds like a curse, and after coming out of the Ghost Town it is damn near impossible to shake that feeling of that bridge being cursed.

Matt walked around the tiny town for what seemed like hours, but obviously my perception of time was skewed from the drugs that were pumped into my system during the Rock Tunnel excursion. I was barely trailing behind him, but at least I was slowly overcoming the sickness; my stomach pains were subsiding.

We stopped inside the Pokemart and to Matt's dismay, "Sorry, sir, we are fresh out of Ethers! Might I interest you in a Repel?"

"Fuck no! You don't have any Ethers left?" Matt yelled at the shopkeeper. I think the poor guy trembled.

"No, sir. Usually we get product shipments every Thursday, but lately I only receive product every few weeks."

Matt didn't care about the shopkeeper's dilemma, "Where can I get Ethers, then? I need more Ethers."

No you don't. You don't need more Ethers. I growled at him. I needed to run through the 'Center, not be pumped full of more drugs.

The shopkeeper stared at his countertop and apologized to Matt again, "My mother-store is in Saffron City, but Team Rocket is running that town which is why my shipments are constantly late. You would be able to get some there. Take Route 8 to get there, if it isn't blocked by the Rockets."

Matt stormed out of the PokeMart without a "Thank you." Again, I followed him in my decrepit state not to the Pokemon Center, but to Pokemon Tower.

I learned immediately that they had not renovated the tower. Floor and ceiling tiles were peeling off, the walls were cracked and crumbling, and the place smelled like rot. My stomach pains started again. I had to lay down, the smells were too much for me right now. The rot, the fluid, the antiseptic smells. Too much for me in this sickened state. I felt Matt return me to my pokeball. The bouncing began immediately, and it didn't help at all. I fainted.

Matt was on the phone when I woke up. I heard Ginger's voice in the background and ran over to him immediately. It was at that time I realized we were in the Pokemon Center lobby. Of course, where else would we be? There isn't a hotel around for miles.

"Are you feeling better?" Matt stared at me, clearly annoyed.

I nodded and looked at the phone.

"It's Ginger," he said.

I growled. I know it is her, I can hear her. Let me say hello.

"Okay, bye, Mom." He hung up the phone. I didn't even get to say hello. Did she even know I was here? Awake? How is she doing? Healthy? Sick? I don't know because Matt hung up before I could even ask.

"You could have talked if you weren't sleeping. Next time don't faint."

I bit Matt's arm. He pulled away bleeding on the tile, his eyes were teary. I didn't care. I left the building. Fuck him. I may be his pokemon, but I will not accept being talked to like that.

Later, he and I re-entered the Pokemon Tower. His arm was bandaged up and I was able to take the strong death-smell with the drugs out of my system. There were no words about what happened in the Pokemon Center and I didn't press him. I let myself move on with the thought that Matt had learned his lesson and we were on some sort of equal ground.

**Author's Note: I was going to make this about another 1k words longer, but I felt like it would have been too much. So, I am going to dedicate the next chapter just to Pokemon Tower instead of putting it in here. Tell me what you think!**


	7. Show Some Respect

This place seemed to be a huge tourist attraction, not a grave. The first floor was filled with people chattering about how "fascinating" and "spooky" the tower was. One pair of young girls were taking photographs and looking at the image to see if they caught a ghost. A group of grade schoolers were daring each other to go to the second floor, but they were obviously far too scared to commit. Next to us, in the corner, was a couple kissing on a bench. Honestly, it was all very disgusting.

Matt ignored the bustle of the lower floor and walked up the staircase to floor number two. I followed him, but took a second to growl at the kissing couple. Show some respect.

The stairs were just as decrepit as the ceiling and walls from the first floor. If this place wasn't haunted, then it really captured the feel of a traditional horror movie. Unfortunately, the second floor wasn't much less full of tourists playing around the graves. Some more couples were fiddling with cameras, but there was one elderly man sitting alone in front of a grave that was covered in dead flowers. The man held a fresh bouquet of pink daisies. He was smiling at the headstone as if remembering some great adventure he had with his Pokemon. I heard him chuckle then watched him put the flowers on the grave. He caught my eye and waved at Matt and myself. I saw that he was crying.

"One day- that's going to be Ginger," I said.

I hate Pokemon Tower.

That being said, Matt and I proceeded to floor three, and I was beginning to wonder why we were even in this place at all. Matt hasn't lost any Pokemon himself. Matt is also a heartless dickbag. We have no real reason to be here. I didn't like that, but I kept following hoping that maybe he would exceed my expectations and simply be here to pay respects.

It was considerably murky on the third floor. The air was heavy, warm, and wet. It felt like walking through a bog. Matt could feel it, too. He shuddered more than once before we met the ghost. Now, I have never seen a ghost before, and let me be the next person to say that they are terrifying. No discernible form, just a misty, floating mass of moans. Of course when the ghost attacked Matt yelled for my help.

"Arcaine! Attack!" He screamed- like a little girl.

I swallowed my fear and pounced on the mass, only to have it vapor around me and form above my head. It used some sort of psychic move that barely hurt me, but an overwhelming amount of fear was sinking in.

"How? How did it do that?" I whimpered- like a little Growlithe.

That's when I heard the cackle. "Kyahahaha! Kyahahaha!" The ghost was laughing at me, but not in a "Haha! You missed" kind of way. It was the "I'm going to kill you" way. It swooped at me, and not wanting to die I ran across the room.

I could hear Matt yelling. I just couldn't bear to turn around and face the laughing ghost. I was too scared. The laughter was following me. It was getting closer and I couldn't outrun it. I thought I was going to die. Then I heard a voice.

"Get back!" A woman shouted and I heard some machine snap below the laughter and a bright light flashed behind me. I kept running until I hit the wall, the cackling still invading my ear drums. I turned around and instead of facing my demise I faced a Ghastly. Ghost pokemon are scary, but not as scary as real ghosts. You can hit ghost pokemon with the right move.

I chose Flamethrower. The Ghastly lost its levitation and fell to the ground. I looked at Matt and he waved me off, instead of finishing the mean pokemon Matt used a Pokeball and caught a new friend. A new, prankster friend.

Of course, we had more than just Ghastly to meet on this floor. A beautiful, blonde haired woman stood before Matt and I. She was holding some sort of mechanical thing.

"Who are you?" Nice one, Matt. That's a real sweet way to greet the lady who just saved us from madness.

The girl didn't seem to care much about Matt's tone, "I'm Rita! I guess you don't have a Silph Scope, do ya?" She giggled. It was super cute.

Matt didn't change his tone. He's such a bro. "We don't. Didn't think we would need one. I'm just trying to get to the top. What does that do?"

"Well, the pokemon here have the ability to mask themselves, so this little guy was created by the Silph Company to 'unmask' the pokemon."

"Oh, okay then. Well, do you want to come up with us? I bet there are going to be more pokemon pretending to be ghosts ahead."

The girl hesitated, "I guess I can do that, but why do you want to go to the top?"

"There's someone I want to visit."

I cocked my head. What could he possibly be talking about? What grave? We don't have anyone buried here. Matt didn't see my confusion, so of course I wasn't given an explanation.

The girl agreed, which made me very, very happy. Not only was she beautiful, but she had a life saving device in her hands. The next two levels went by with ease, the disguised ghosts were identified and scared off with a flamethrower or two. I was kept from KO-ing anyone. Which was very odd for Matt. He loved to show off his fighting spirit as well as his powerful pokemon. Mostly I think he just liked to defeat defenseful creatures. Anyway, I figured that Matt was probably showing off for Rita.

Maybe he is a gentleman after all. Well, that's what I thought before we saw the zombies, and before I saw Matt push down Rita to get out of the way.

I didn't think zombies were real. I remember Ginger talking about seeing them in a movie a few years ago, they weren't "well rendered" or whatever that means. From what I gained from the conversation, though, was that zombies are reanimated dead things. That's not possible, but hey I was looking right at four examples of not possible moaning and creeping toward us.

Rita screamed on the ground. I doubted the Silph Scope would help us here, but she kept hitting the trigger. Using my teeth, I pulled her up off the ground and ran into the far left of corner of the room where Matt was. He was shaking, but trying to look tough.

"Go fight them!" He screamed at me. I could have sworn his voice cracked a little, but I may have been projecting. I was pretty terrified as well.

I growled to let him know that you don't push people down to run away from monsters. I don't think he understood because he release both Scyther and Squirtle next to me. "Go! Use Fire Blast! Use Leaf Cutter! Use Aqua Jet!"

These poor kids didn't know what to think of the situation. Four dead Pikachus were shredding skin and sludge as they sloshed toward us. They made half-assed sounds of "Pika," but it really just sounded hollow and disgusting. My Fire Blast knocked one to ground and some figure smoked out of the corpse.

"Okay, Squirtle, use your Aqua Jet!" I said, trying my best to make this a team effort. Squirtle cried out and ran at the three remaining Pikachus, "I hope this works!" He smashed into them and two more smoky figures left.

One final Pikachu remained. I nodded to Scyther who looked like he was about to cry. He ran at, then past the Pikachu using Leaf Cutter on a headstone. It was a critical hit. I made up for his fear and blew a Flamethrower at Matt's command.

Matt and Rita inspected the corpses, "They must have been possessed by a ghost-type or something. They're really dead," Rita choked.

"How is that possible?" Matt turned over a body with his foot. Little bits of skin and flesh fell off.

"I don't know, but I do know that I don't want to be here anymore. Can we please go?" I growled at Matt. Scyther wobbled back to group and sat down; Squirtle put a hand on his back. Both were returned to their balls before we left the floor. The bodies stayed where they fell, and I knew that we would have to go around them on the way out.

I hoped they weren't alive when we came back.

Matt, Rita, and I ran through the fifth and sixth floors not wanting to run into more zombies or ghosts or whatever else this fucked up building could create. I think I even had my eyes closed sometimes.

Finally. Finally, we made it to the top floor. I felt like a side kick in one of those video games Matt played when he was a kid. Level after level with a new challenge, but maybe at this top floor there will be a prize.

There was no prize, but there was a single grave that stood alone at the very back of the room. Matt ignored the rest of the tombs and headed straight toward the stand alone stone. Rita smiled at me and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Do you know why he is here?"

I shook my head. I had no idea.

"I see. Well, let's go join him," she pushed me forward with her, and we walked up behind Matt. He was kneeling with his head down, praying for a pokemon he never knew- or at least that's what I believed.

I'm not trying to set you up for some huge exposition, not really. Matt didn't know this pokemon. At least not physically; he must have read about this pokemon's sacrifice and wanted to pay his respects to such a noble mother. Matt didn't tell Rita or I anything. He just mumbled a prayer for the pokemon. It was truly heart wrenching to see such an asshole on the verge of tears for a pokemon he had never met.

"She did so much for her child," He said to no one.

Maybe Matt saw some of Ginger in the dead Marowak mother, some respect in how hard a parent will work to protect its child. I could have never predicted this. I nuzzled Matt, "She was a hero," I rumbled. He touched my muzzle and in that moment I think we were friends.

It was short lived, however. Matt turned back into his normal self as soon as we were out of the building. Rita hugged me and said a stiff goodbye to Matt and parted her way. She was probably still holding the zombie ordeal over his head, which was extremely justified. That was rude.

Matt glared at me, "Well, aren't you lucky."

_Maybe you shouldn't have pushed her down, slick. _

Maybe he was started to understand me because Matt looked hurt for a moment. He recovered quickly, "Anyway, let's go to the Pokemon Center then go to Celadon City. I heard a rumor that the bridge is haunted, and I've had enough of ghosts for a while."

I chuckled and padded next him. He put me into the Pokeball before handing me and the rest of our team over to the nurse. I wish I could be in the Pokemon Center without being in the ball. When the tingling of healing stopped, I felt the rumble of being transferred back to Matt. Then I was let out. Good, the boy is learning.

Matt was making a call to Ginger when I heard some old man across the room, "You're doing what?"

"I know, I know, but we have no other choice. The building is in severe need of repair, and we have to move the tombs to fix the building anyway," there was a well dressed guy hold the old man's hand apologizing.

"Where will they go?"

"We are moving them to a new building, the Soul House. The Pokemon Tower will be the radio tower after it's renovated."

"This is so sad."

"I know, Mr. Fuji. You'll be consulted during the entire process, and you will be overseeing the Soul House after completion."

Matt smacked my head, "Hey! You want to say hi to Mom or what?"

I growled and bumped him aside. _Move, asshole._

Ginger smiled and began to cry when she saw me, "It's so great to see you, Arcanine! How are you?"

I got all choked up seeing Ginger cry, "I-I'm okay. Your kid is an ass, but I am fine. How are you?" I whined and rumbled hoping she could understand me through the telephone.

"I'm great, hun. You keep being a good boy."

"I will," I growled, "I will."

* * *

><p><strong>Note Time: Alright guys, I am back! It's been a long time, but here is a new chapter. Let me know if there are any continuity errors so I can fix them, but I am pretty sure I checked myself well enough. <strong>

**Please give me some reviews, too! Let me know what you think everyone! Enjoy!**


End file.
